Aluminium Corporation of China Limited, known as Chalco, officially announced on its website on Monday, October 29, that it started the construction work of its Boffa bauxite mine in Guinea. According to the Reuters report, the company held the groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday, October 28, at morning local time in Guinea.
As per the plan, the first phase of the project will produce 12 million tonnes of bauxite in a year, which will go to Chalco's alumina refineries in Shandong and Guangxi. Upon full operation, Chalco is expected to be capable of providing 75 per cent of bauxite as raw materials.
The Boffa mine has an estimated 1.75 billion tonnes of bauxite reserves, allowing sustainable exploitation for over 60 years, Chalco said.
At the beginning of June Chalco had entered into an agreement with the government of Guinea to develop the Boffa bauxite project. According to the agreement, Chalco Guinea company was granted mining licenses for the Boffa north and Boffa south blocks for 15 years and renewable for 15 years on expiry.
The company had then declared that it would invest up to US$ 163.8 million in the project, which has a total cost of $706 million. The investment would be split among mining, ports and lightering operations, respectively.
The production from the mine is expected to begin by the end of 2019.
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